Rockland field project has successful June, raffling Billy Joel tickets in July

...The group, officially known as Oceanside Improvement Fund, Inc., is spearheaded by the organization’s president Doris Pease Norton. The non-profit aims to raise money in order to give makeovers to the Robert Morrill baseball field and the soon-to-be Gene Drinkwater softball field. The two fields located on Thomaston Street in Rockland are currently occupied by the district’s middle school diamond squads. The high school teams use fields in Thomaston that were once used by Georges Valley. The plan is to have the varsity teams utilize the Rockland fields and the middle school teams utilize the Thomaston fields upon completion of the renovations.

The group has received school board approval from Regional School Unit 13 to raise these funds and has received school board support to budget “adequate funds to maintain and upkeep these fields once the improvements have been made,” according to a statement posted on the group’s Facebook page.

The organization hopes to have the renovations completed in time for the 2018 season, with regular season games slated to begin in mid-April. Total costs for the renovation will total $425,000.

THE BRUNSWICK U9 All-Stars won the Cal Ripken District Championship, downing Ararat in the title game, 5-2. The Brunswick squad, which swept the tournament, turned in a solid team effort throughout the tournament. In the championship game, Brunswick’s offense was led by Nate Eggerling with three hits and Liam Scholl with two. The third inning was the hot inning for the host team as they scored three runs. Brunswick added single runs in the fourth and fifth frames. Ararat players with two hits each included Nick Creek and Caleb Edwards. Ararat’s runs came in the first and sixth innings.

The single-elimination Midcoast Babe Ruth League playoffs are under way, with four of the eight teams sent home for the summer at the conclusion of quarterfinal playoff battles on Thursday and Friday, June 29-30.

The Midcoast 15s will play their first game of their double-elimination tournament on Thursday, July 6 against Coastal North. Apple Valley and Coastal West also will participate.

The Midcoast 14s will play their first game of their double-elimination tournament on Saturday, July 8 against Augusta or Apple Valley. The team’s first game originally was supposed to be on Thursday, July 6 at 9 a.m. against Central Maine, but the latter team pulled out of the tournament, which changed the time of Midcoast’s first game and made it a three-team tournament.

Both tournaments will be at the Oceanside baseball field in Thomaston. The champion of the tournaments will advance to the state events, which will be in Augusta and begin on Thursday, July 13.

BUCKSPORT, Maine — The Bucksport 11-12 all-stars plated eight runs in the top of the fourth inning and six more in the fifth to pull away for an 18-6 District 1 Little League baseball win over Coastal on Wednesday.

Kaleb Nightingale tripled, doubled and singled twice to drive in two runs for 2-1 Bucksport while scoring four times. Brandon Elden doubled twice and plated five runs. Ayden Maguire added a two-run double and four runs scored.

ROCKLAND — Albeit 10 days earlier than originally anticipated, the District 2 Little League 11- and 12-year-old all-star baseball double-elimination tournament swung in on Wednesday, July 5 at E. Allen Gordon Field.

In the opener, Lincoln County posted a 2-0 win over Oceanside.

- Click for photos from this game.- Watch video below.- Click for over Little League photos from this season.

The District 2 tournament originally was scheduled to begin on Saturday, July 15, but Oceanside Little League president Tom Peaco said the district was forced to move up the date of its tournament due to a date change in the state tournament in Westbrook, which now will begin on Friday, July 21.